Multi-Channel Pairing in a Media System

ABSTRACT

Technology for grouping, consolidating, and pairing individual playback devices with network capability (players) to stimulate a multi-channel listening environment is disclosed. Particularly, the embodiments described herein enable two or more playback devices to be paired, such that multi-channel audio is achieved. Such embodiments may be used to produce stereo and multi-channel audio environments for television and movies.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims the benefit of and priority to U.S.patent application Ser. No. 13/083,499, filed on Apr. 8, 2011, for“MULTI-CHANNEL PAIRING IN A MEDIA SYSTEM”; which is acontinuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 13/013,740, filedJanuary 25, for “Controlling and grouping in a multi-zone media system”;which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/853,790,filed Sep. 11, 2007, for “Controlling and manipulating groupings in amulti-zone media system”; which claims the benefits of the U.S.provisional application, No. 60/825,407, entitled “Controlling andmanipulating groupings in a multi-zone music or media system”, filedSep. 12, 2006, each of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

The presently described technology is directed towards technology foruse in the area of consumer electronics. In particular, certainembodiments are directed to multi-channel pairing in a media system.

Music is very much a part of our everyday lives. And thanks to theadvancement of technology, music content is now more accessible thanever. The same can be said of other types of media, such as television,movies, and other audio and video content. In fact, now a user can evenaccess the content over the Internet through an online store, anInternet radio station, online music service, online movie service, andthe like, in addition to the more traditional means of accessing audioand video content.

The demand for such audio and video content continues to surge. Giventhe high demand over the years, technology used to access and play suchcontent has likewise improved. Even still, technology used in accessingthe content and the playback of such content can be significantlyimproved or developed in ways that the market or end users may notanticipate.

SUMMARY

The embodiments described herein include, but are not limited to,various devices, systems, methods, and computer program products. Thissection is for the purpose of summarizing some aspects of certainembodiments. Simplifications or omissions in this section as well as inthe abstract or the title of this description may be made to avoidobscuring the purpose of this section, the abstract and the title. Suchsimplifications or omissions are not intended to limit the scope of thevarious inventions described herein.

In brief summary, the embodiments described herein provide technologyfor grouping, consolidating, and pairing individual playback devices tocreate or enhance a multi-channel listening environment. Particularly,the embodiments described herein enable two or more playback devices tobe paired, such that multi-channel audio is achieved or enhanced. Suchembodiments may be used to produce stereo sound or other audioenvironments suitable for audio content encoded with more than twochannels, such as for certain kinds of television, movies, and music.

For example, an apparatus according to an embodiment comprises a networkinterface, a plurality of speaker drivers, an amplifier, and aprocessor. The network interface receives audio data over a network. Theamplifier powers the plurality of speaker drivers. The processorprocesses the audio data to be output through the plurality of speakerdrivers. The processor further configures a first equalization of theoutput from the plurality of speaker drivers in accordance with a firsttype of pairing and configuring a second equalization of the output fromthe plurality of speaker drivers in accordance with a second type ofpairing.

In another example, a method according to an embodiment comprisesreceiving audio data over a network and processing the audio data to beoutput through a plurality of speaker drivers. The method furtherincludes configuring a first equalization of the output from theplurality of speaker drivers in accordance with a first type of pairingand configuring a second equalization of the output from the pluralityof speaker drivers in accordance with a second type of pairing.

One of the objects, features, and advantages of the present invention isto achieve or enhance a multi-channel listening environment. Many otherobjects, features, and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent upon examining the following detailed description of anembodiment thereof, taken in conjunction with the attached drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the presentlydescribed technology will become better understood by a person skilledin the art with regard to the following description, appended claims,and accompanying drawings where:

FIG. 1 shows an illustrative configuration in which certain embodimentsmay be practiced;

FIG. 2A shows an illustrative functional block diagram of a player inaccordance with certain embodiments;

FIG. 2B shows an example of a controller that may be used to remotelycontrol one or more players of FIG. 2A;

FIG. 2C shows an example of a controller that may be used to remotelycontrol one or more players of FIG. 2A;

FIG. 2D shows an example internal functional block diagram of acontroller in accordance with certain embodiments;

FIG. 3A provides an illustration of a zone scene configuration;

FIG. 3B shows that a user defines multiple groups to be gathered at thesame time;

FIG. 4 shows an example user interface that may be displayed on acontroller or a computer of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5A shows an example user interface to allow a user to form a scene;

FIG. 5B shows another example user interface to allow a user to form ascene;

FIG. 5C shows an example user interface to allow a user to adjust avolume level of the zone players in a zone scene individually orcollectively;

FIG. 6 shows a flowchart or process of providing a player theme or azone scene for a plurality of players, where one or more of the playersare placed in a zone;

FIG. 7 shows an illustrative configuration in which an audio source isplayed back on two players in accordance to an embodiment;

FIG. 8 shows an illustrative configuration of a pairing amongst multipleplayers in accordance to an embodiment;

FIG. 9 shows a flowchart or process of grouping a plurality of audioproducts to play separated sound tracks in synchronization to simulate amulti-channel listening environment; and

FIGS. 10A to 10F show example snapshots of a controller used in certainembodiments.

In addition, the drawings are for the purpose of illustrating certainembodiments, but it is understood that the inventions are not limited tothe arrangements and instrumentality shown in the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION I. Overview

The embodiments described herein relate to multi-channel pairing in amedia system. The embodiments are particularly useful in pairing two ormore playback devices together to create or enhance multi-channel audioreproduction, like stereo, surround sound, or some other multi-channelenvironment. The embodiments will also find utility in connection withany system for which multi-channel pairing is desired.

In an embodiment, two playback devices that are each configured tooutput a plurality of audio channels independent of each other areselectively paired, such that subsequent to pairing, one playback deviceis configured to output a first subset of the plurality of audiochannels and the other playback device is configured to output a secondsubset of the plurality of audio channels. The first and second subsetsare different. For instance, each playback device is configured tooperate in a two-channel mode or stereo mode prior to being paired(e.g., each playback device is configured to play both right and leftchannel audio). Subsequent to pairing, one playback device isreconfigured to output a first channel (e.g., right channel audio andnot left channel audio) and the other playback device is reconfigured tooutput a second channel (e.g., left channel audio and not right channelaudio), which is different from the first channel.

In another embodiment, a collection of three or more playback devicesthat are each configured to output a plurality of audio channelsindependent of another playback device in the collection are selectivelypaired, such that subsequent to pairing, each of the playback devices isconfigured to output a different audio channel from the collection. Thisembodiment is particularly useful in a television or movie theater typesetting where a particular playback device of the multiple playbackdevices is configured to output in two-channel or stereo mode at onetime (e.g., when playing a song), and subsequent to pairing, isconfigured to output as a front-right channel, a front-center channel, afront-left channel, a rear-right channel, a rear-left channel, asubwoofer channel, and so on (e.g., when watching television or a movieor listening to music that contains more than two-channels).

In another embodiment, one of the paired playback devices processes thedata of an audio item to separate the data into channels, each of thechannels representing a single-sound track, for example. The playbackdevice sends the separated channel(s) to the other, respective playbackdevice(s). The playback devices play their distinctive channels insynchrony, thus creating a multi-channel listening environment.Alternatively, each of the paired playback devices processes the data ofan audio item, or a portion of the data, and plays only those one ormore channels designated for the respective playback device.

In another embodiment, two or more playback devices may be grouped intoa single or consolidated playback device and the consolidated playbackdevice may be paired with one or more playback devices. For instance,two playback devices may be grouped into a first consolidated playbackdevice and two additional playback devices may be grouped into a secondconsolidated playback device. The first and second consolidated playbackdevices may be paired, for example. In certain embodiments, eachplayback device of a consolidated playback device is put intoconsolidated mode, which may result in a changed equalization for one ormore speaker drivers of any particular playback device. Further, one ormore additional playback devices may be added to a consolidated playbackdevice.

In certain embodiments, a playback device that is configured to outputan audio channel is paired with one or more additional playback devices,such that the playback device is reconfigured to output a differentaudio channel. For instance, the playback device might be configured tooutput a right channel for stereo mode, but subsequent to being pairedwith one or more additional playback devices, might be reconfigured tooutput a rear, right channel for theater mode. The playback device maybe paired to one or more other playback devices.

In certain embodiments, a playback device that is configured to output aplurality of audio channels is paired with one or more additionalplayback devices, such that the playback device is configured to outputa subset of the plurality of audio channels relative to the one or moreadditional playback devices. For instance, the playback device might beconfigured to output in two-channel or stereo mode, but subsequent tobeing paired with one or more playback devices might be configured tooutput a right or left channel. The playback device may be paired to oneor more other playback devices.

In certain embodiments, a playback device comprises a network interface,one or more speaker drivers, an amplifier, and a processor. The networkinterface receives audio data over a network. The amplifier powers thespeaker drivers. The processor processes the audio data to be outputthrough the speaker drivers. The processor further configures a firstequalization of the output from the speaker drivers in accordance with afirst type of pairing and configuring a second equalization of theoutput from the speaker drivers in accordance with a second type ofpairing. The playback device may operate in any of: non paired mode,paired mode, consolidated mode, and grouped mode.

In certain embodiments, a controller is configured to, among otherthings, pair two or more playback devices to establish a multi-channelaudio environment. That is, through the controller, a user can selectwhich playback devices to pair. Once programmed, the playback devicesmay operate in paired mode until disengaged, for example. In someembodiments, the controller is wirelessly coupled to the one or moreplayback devices. In other embodiments, the controller is wired to theone or more playback devices.

According to certain embodiments, the action of pairing two or moreplayback devices is triggered based on a command from a user via acontrol interface (e.g., a manual command creates a pair) or responsiveto an event (e.g., an automatic command creates a pair). Example eventsinclude a detection in the change of audio content (e.g., the audiocontent goes from having two-channel content to three or more channelcontent, and vice-versa), a detection of a certain time, a detection ofa certain kind of entertainment (e.g., detecting that the user iswatching television versus just listening to music), or any other eventthat is programmed to create a pair amongst playback devices. The eventdetection might occur by a controller, one of the playback devices, orsome other device, for example.

According to certain embodiments, in an attempt to optimize themulti-channel pairing, the configuration of a playback device mayinclude any of: changing the equalization of the playback device bychanging the equalization of one or more specific speaker drivers andoptimizing the synchronization between paired devices. Examples ofchanging the equalization are described more below.

These embodiments and many additional embodiments are described morebelow. Further, the detailed description is presented largely in termsof illustrative environments, systems, procedures, steps, logic blocks,processing, and other symbolic representations that directly orindirectly resemble the operations of data processing devices coupled tonetworks. These process descriptions and representations are typicallyused by those skilled in the art to most effectively convey thesubstance of their work to others skilled in the art. Numerous specificdetails are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding ofthe present invention. However, it is understood to those skilled in theart that certain embodiments of the present invention may be practicedwithout certain, specific details. In other instances, well knownmethods, procedures, components, and circuitry have not been describedin detail to avoid unnecessarily obscuring aspects of the embodiments.

Reference herein to “embodiment” means that a particular feature,structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodimentcan be included in at least one embodiment of the invention. Theappearances of this phrase in various places in the specification arenot necessarily all referring to the same embodiment, nor are separateor alternative embodiments mutually exclusive of other embodiments. Theembodiments described herein, explicitly and implicitly understood byone skilled in the art, may be combined with other embodiments.

II. Example Environment

Referring now to the drawings, in which like numerals may refer to likeparts throughout the several views. FIG. 1 shows an exemplaryconfiguration 100 in which certain embodiments may be practiced. Theconfiguration 100 may represent, but not be limited to, a part of aresidential home, a business building, or a complex with multiple zones.There are a number of multimedia players of which three examples 102,104 and 106 are shown as audio devices. Each of the audio devices may beinstalled or provided in one particular area or zone and hence referredto as a zone player herein. It is understood that a zone can comprisemore than one zone player.

As used herein, unless explicitly stated otherwise, an audio source oraudio sources are generally in digital format and can be transported orstreamed over a data network. To facilitate the understanding of theexample environment of FIG. 1, it is assumed that the configuration 100represents a home. Though, it is understood that this technology is notlimited to its place of application. Referring back to FIG. 1, the zoneplayers 102 and 104 may be located in one or two of the bedrooms whilethe zone player 106 may be installed or positioned in a living room. Allof the zone players 102, 104, and 106 are coupled directly or indirectlyto a data network 108. In addition, a computing device 110 is shown tobe coupled on the network 108. In reality, any other device such as ahome gateway device, a storage device, or an MP3 player may be coupledto the network 108 as well.

The network 108 may be a wired network, a wireless network or acombination of both. In one example, all devices including the zoneplayers 102, 104, and 106 are coupled to the network 108 by wirelessmeans based on an industry standard such as IEEE 802.11. In yet anotherexample, all devices including the zone players 102, 104, and 106 arepart of a local area network that communicates with a wide area network(e.g., the Internet). In still another example, all devices includingthe zone players 102, 104 and 106 and a controller 142 forms an ad-hocnetwork and may be specifically named, e.g., a household identifier:Smith Family, to be differentiated from a similar neighboring setup witha household identifier, e.g., Kallai Family.

Many devices on the network 108 are configured to download and storeaudio sources. For example, the computing device 110 can download audiosources, such as music or audio associated with videos, from theInternet (e.g., the “cloud”) or some other source and store thedownloaded audio sources locally for sharing with other devices on theInternet or the network 108. The computing device 110 or any of the zoneplayers 102, 104, and 106 can also be configured to receive streamingaudio. Shown as a stereo system, the device 112 is configured to receivean analog audio source (e.g., from broadcasting) or retrieve a digitalaudio source (e.g., from a compact disk). The analog audio sources canbe converted to digital audio sources. In accordance with certainembodiments, the various audio sources may be shared among the deviceson the network 108.

Two or more zone players (e.g., any two or more of the zone players 102,104, and 106) may be grouped together to form a new zone group. Anycombinations of zone players and an existing zone group may be groupedtogether. In one instance, a new zone group is formed by adding one zoneplayer to another zone player or an existing zone group.

In certain embodiments, there are two or more zone players in oneenvironment (e.g., a living room in a house). Instead of grouping thesetwo zone players to play back the same audio source in synchrony, thesetwo zone players may be configured to play two separate sounds in leftand right channels. In other words, the stereo effects of a sound arereproduced or enhanced through these two zone players, one for the leftsound and the other for the right sound. Likewise, for a 3-channel (or2.1 sound effects) sound, three such zone players may be reconfigured asif there are three speakers: left and right speakers and a subwoofer toform a stereo sound. The details of the reconfiguring the zone playersand operating these audio products are described more below. Similarconfigurations with multiple channels (greater than 3, such as 4, 5, 6,7, 9 channels and so on) also apply. For example, configurations thatuse more than two channels may be useful in television and theater typesettings, where video content such as in the form of television andmovies is played together with audio content that contains more than twochannels. Further, certain music might similarly be encoded with morethan two channel sound.

In certain embodiments, two or more zone players may be consolidated toform a single, consolidated zone player. The consolidated zone playermay further be paired with a single zone player or yet anotherconsolidated zone player. A consolidated zone player may comprise one ormore individual playback devices. Each playback device of a consolidatedplayback device is preferably set in a consolidated mode.

According to some embodiments, one can continue to do any of: group,consolidate, and pair until a desired configuration is complete. Theactions of grouping, consolidation, and pairing are preferably performedthrough a control interface and not by physically connecting andre-connecting speaker wire, for example, to individual, discretespeakers to create different configurations. As such, certainembodiments described herein provide a more flexible and dynamicplatform through which sound reproduction can be offered to theend-user.

It is understood that the technology described herein is not limited toits place of application. For example, it is understood that zones andzone players, and the embodiments described herein, may also be used invehicles, on water craft, airplanes, amphitheaters, outdoors, along thestreets in a village or city, and so on, in addition to homes, offices,gyms, schools, hospitals, hotels, movie theaters, malls, stores,casinos, museum, entertainment parks, or any other place where audiocontent is played. As such, it will be appreciated that the embodimentsdescribed herein may be used in connection with any system orapplication for which multi-channel pairing is desired.

III. Example Playback Devices

Referring now to FIG. 2A, there is shown an exemplary functional blockdiagram of a zone player 200 in accordance with an embodiment. The zoneplayer 200 includes a network interface 202, a processor 204, a memory206, an audio processing circuit 210, a module 212, optionally, an audioamplifier 214 that may be internal or external, and optionally, aspeaker unit 218 connected to the audio amplifier 214. The networkinterface 202 facilitates a data flow between a data network (i.e., thedata network 108 of FIG. 1) and the zone player 200 and typicallyexecutes a special set of rules (i.e., a protocol) to send data back andforth. One of the common protocols used in the Internet is TCP/IP(Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol). In general, a networkinterface 202 manages the assembling of an audio source or file intosmaller packets that are to be transmitted over the data network orreassembles received packets into the original source or file. Inaddition, the network interface 202 handles the address part of eachpacket so that it gets to the right destination or intercepts packetsdestined for the zone player 200. Accordingly, in certain embodiments,each of the packets includes an IP-based source address as well as anIP-based destination address.

The network interface 202 may include one or both of a wirelessinterface 216 and a wired interface 217. The wireless interface 216,also referred to as an RF interface, provides network interfacefunctions by a wireless means for the zone player 200 to communicatewith other devices in accordance with a communication protocol (such asthe wireless standard IEEE 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n, or802.15.1). The wired interface 217 provides network interface functionsby a wired means (e.g., an Ethernet cable). In one embodiment, a zoneplayer includes both of the interfaces 216 and 217, and other zoneplayers include only a RF or wired interface. Thus these other zoneplayers communicate with other devices on a network or retrieve audiosources via the zone player. The processor 204 is configured to controlthe operation of other parts in the zone player 200. The memory 206 maybe loaded with one or more software modules that can be executed by theprocessor 204 to achieve desired tasks. According to one embodiment, asoftware module implementing an embodiment, such as described herein, isexecuted, the processor 204 operates in accordance with the softwaremodule in reference to a saved zone group configuration characterizing azone group created by a user, the zone player 200 is caused to retrievean audio source from another zone player or a device on the network andsynchronize the players in the zone group to play back the audio sourceas desired. According to another embodiment, a software moduleimplementing an embodiment described herein creates a pair between twoor more zone players to create a desired multi-channel audioenvironment.

According to one embodiment, the memory 206 is used to save one or moresaved zone configuration files that may be retrieved for modification atany time. Typically, a saved zone group configuration file istransmitted to a controller (e.g., the controlling device 140 or 142 ofFIG. 1, a computer, a portable device, or a TV) when a user operates thecontrolling device. The zone group configuration provides an interactiveuser interface so that various manipulations or control of the zoneplayers may be performed.

In certain embodiments, the audio processing circuit 210 resembles thecircuitry in an audio playback device and includes one or moredigital-to-analog converters (DAC), an audio preprocessing part, anaudio enhancement part or a digital signal processor and others. Inoperation, when an audio source is retrieved via the network interface202, the audio source is processed in the audio processing circuit 210to produce analog audio signals. The processed analog audio signals arethen provided to the audio amplifier 214 for playback on speakers. Inaddition, the audio processing circuit 210 may include necessarycircuitry to process analog signals as inputs to produce digital signalsfor sharing with other devices on a network.

Depending on an exact implementation, the module 212 may be implementedas a combination of hardware and software. In one embodiment, the module212 is used to save a scene. The audio amplifier 214 is typically ananalog circuit that powers the provided analog audio signals to driveone or more speakers.

It is understood that zone player 200 is an example of a playbackdevice. Examples of playback devices include those zone players that arecommercially offered for sale by Sonos, Inc. of Santa Barbara, Calif.They currently include a ZonePlayer 90, ZonePlayer 120, and Sonos S5.The ZonePlayer 90 is an example zone player without a built-inamplifier, whereas the ZonePlayer 120 is an example zone player with abuilt-in amplifier. The S5 is an example zone player with a built-inamplifier and speakers. In particular, the S5 is a five-driver speakersystem that includes two tweeters, two mid-range drivers, and onesubwoofer. When playing audio content via the S5, the left audio data ofa track is sent out of the left tweeter and left mid-range driver, theright audio data of a track is sent out of the right tweeter and theright mid-range driver, and mono bass is sent out of the subwoofer.Further, both mid-range drivers and both tweeters have the sameequalization (or substantially the same equalization). That is, they areboth sent the same frequencies, just from different channels of audio.While the S5 is an example of a zone player with speakers, it isunderstood that a zone player with speakers is not limited to one with acertain number of speakers (e.g., five speakers as in the S5), butrather can contain one or more speakers. Further, a zone player may bepart of another device, which might even serve a primary purposedifferent than audio.

IV. Example Controller

Referring now to FIG. 2B, there is shown an exemplary controller 240,which may correspond to the controlling device 140 or 142 of FIG. 1. Thecontroller 240 may be used to facilitate the control of multi-mediaapplications, automation and others in a complex. In particular, thecontroller 240 is configured to facilitate a selection of a plurality ofaudio sources available on the network, controlling operations of one ormore zone players (e.g., the zone player 200) through a RF interfacecorresponding to the wireless interface 216 of FIG. 2A. According to oneembodiment, the wireless means is based on an industry standard (e.g.,infrared, radio, wireless standard IEEE 802.11a, 802.11b 802.11g,802.11n, or 802.15.1). When a particular audio source is being played inthe zone player 200, a picture, if there is any, associated with theaudio source may be transmitted from the zone player 200 to thecontroller 240 for display. In one embodiment, the controller 240 isused to synchronize audio playback of more than one zone player bygrouping the zone players in a group. In another embodiment, thecontroller 240 is used to control the volume of each of the zone playersin a zone group individually or together.

In an embodiment, the controller 240 is used to create a pairing betweentwo or more playback devices to create or enhance a multi-channellistening environment. For example, the controller 240 may be used toselect and pair two or more playback devices. In addition, thecontroller 240 may be used to turn pairing on or off. The controller 240may also be used to consolidate playback devices, and further to set aparticular playback device in consolidated mode. Accordingly, in someembodiments, the controller 240 provides a flexible mechanism fordynamically configuring a multi-channel audio environment. In someinstances, the pairing creates a multi-channel listening environment. Insome instances, the pairing enhances a multi-channel listeningenvironment by increasing the separation between devices. For example,two individual playback devices, which are positioned at a distance fromeach other, may provide more channel separation to the listener than theaudio coming from only a single device.

The user interface for the controller 240 includes a screen 242 (e.g., aLCD screen) and a set of functional buttons as follows: a “zones” button244, a “back” button 246, a “music” button 248, a scroll wheel 250, “ok”button 252, a set of transport control buttons 254, a mute button 262, avolume up/down button 264, a set of soft buttons 266 corresponding tothe labels 268 displayed on the screen 242.

The screen 242 displays various screen menus in response to a user'sselection. In one embodiment, the “zones” button 244 activates a zonemanagement screen or “Zone Menu”, which is described in more detailsbelow. The “back” button 246 may lead to different actions depending onthe current screen. In one embodiment, the “back” button triggers thecurrent screen display to go back to a previous one. In anotherembodiment, the ‘back” button negates the user's erroneous selection.The “music” button 248 activates a music menu, which allows theselection of an audio source (e.g., a song) to be added to a zoneplayer's music queue for playback.

The scroll wheel 250 is used for selecting an item within a list,whenever a list is presented on the screen 242. When the items in thelist are too many to be accommodated in one screen display, a scrollindicator such as a scroll bar or a scroll arrow is displayed beside thelist. When the scroll indicator is displayed, a user may rotate thescroll wheel 250 to either choose a displayed item or display a hiddenitem in the list. The “OK” button 252 is used to confirm the userselection on the screen 242.

There are three transport buttons 254, which are used to control theeffect of the currently playing song. For example, the functions of thetransport buttons may include play/pause and forward/rewind a song, moveforward to a next song track, or move backward to a previous track.According to one embodiment, pressing one of the volume control buttonssuch as the mute button 262 or the volume up/down button 264 activates avolume panel. In addition, there are three soft buttons 266 that can beactivated in accordance with the labels 268 on the screen 242. It isunderstood that, in a multi-zone system, there may be multiple audiosources being played respectively in more than one zone players. Themusic transport functions described herein shall apply selectively toone of the sources when a corresponding one of the zone players or zonegroups is selected.

FIG. 2C shows an exemplary controller 260 which may correspond to thecontrolling device 140 or 142 of FIG. 1. The controller 260 is providedwith a touch screen that allows a user to interact with the controller,for example, to navigate a playlist of many items, to control operationsof one or more players. In one embodiment as it will be further shown inFIGS. 10A to 10F, a user may interact with the controller to make amulti-channel audio environment, such as create a stereo pair forexample, and may even be used to separate the multi-channel audioenvironment, such as disengage a stereo pair. It should be noted thatother network-enabled portable devices such as an iPhone, iPad or anyother smart phone or network-enabled device may be used as a controllerto interact or control multiple zone players in an environment (e.g., anetworked computer such as a PC or Mac may also be used as acontroller). According to one embodiment, an application may bedownloaded into a network enabled device. Such an application mayimplement most of the functions discussed above for the controller 240using a navigating mechanism or touch screen in the device. Thoseskilled in the art will appreciate the flexibility of such anapplication and its ability to be ported to a new type of portabledevice given the detailed description herein.

FIG. 2D illustrates an internal functional block diagram of an exemplarycontroller 270, which may correspond to the controller 240 of FIG. 2B, acomputing device, smart phone, or any other communicative device. Thescreen 272 on the controller 270 may be an LCD screen. The screen 272communicates with and is commanded by a screen driver 274 that iscontrolled by a microcontroller (e.g., a processor) 276. The memory 282may be loaded with one or more application modules 284 that can beexecuted by the microcontroller 276 with or without a user input via theuser interface 278 to achieve desired tasks. In one embodiment, anapplication module is configured to facilitate grouping a number ofselected zone players into a zone group and synchronizing the zoneplayers for one audio source. In another embodiment, an applicationmodule is configured to control together the audio sounds (e.g., volume)of the zone players in a zone group. In operation, when themicrocontroller 276 executes one or more of the application modules 284,the screen driver 274 generates control signals to drive the screen 272to display an application specific user interface accordingly, more ofwhich will be described below.

The controller 270 includes a network interface 280 referred to as a RFinterface 280 that facilitates wireless communication with a zone playervia a corresponding RF interface thereof. In one embodiment, thecommands such as volume control and audio playback synchronization aresent via the RF interfaces. In another embodiment, a saved zone groupconfiguration is transmitted between a zone player and a controller viathe RF interfaces. The controller 270 may control one or more zoneplayers, such as 102, 104 and 106 of FIG. 1. Nevertheless, there may bemore than one controller, each preferably in a zone (e.g., a room orrooms nearby each other) and configured to control any one and all ofthe zone players.

In one embodiment, a user creates a zone group including at least twozone players from the controller 240 that sends signals or data to oneof the zone players. As all the zone players are coupled on a network,the received signals in one zone player can cause other zone players inthe group to be synchronized so that all the zone players in the groupplay back an identical audio source or a list of identical audio sourcesin a timely synchronized manner such that no (or substantially no)audible delays or hiccups could be heard. Similarly, when a userincreases the audio volume of the group from the controller, the signalsor data of increasing the audio volume for the group are sent to one ofthe zone players and causes other zone players in the group to beincreased together in volume and in scale.

According to one implementation, an application module is loaded inmemory 282 for zone group management. When a predetermined key (e.g. the“zones” button 244) is activated on the controller 240, the applicationmodule is executed in the microcontroller 276. The input interface 278coupled to and controlled by the microcontroller 276 receives inputsfrom a user. A “Zone Menu” is then displayed on the screen 272. The usermay start grouping zone players into a zone group by activating a “LinkZones” or “Add Zone” soft button, or de-grouping a zone group byactivating an “Unlink Zones” or “Drop Zone” button. The detail of thezone group manipulation will be further discussed below.

As described above, the input interface 278 includes a number offunction buttons as well as a screen graphical user interface. It shouldbe pointed out that the controller 240 in FIG. 2B is not the onlycontrolling device that may practice the embodiments. Other devices thatprovide the equivalent control functions (e.g., a computing device, ahand-held device) may also be configured to practice the presentinvention. In the above description, unless otherwise specificallydescribed, it is clear that keys or buttons are generally referred to aseither the physical buttons or soft buttons, enabling a user to enter acommand or data.

One mechanism for ‘joining’ zone players together for music playback isto link a number of zone players together to form a group. To link anumber of zone players together, a user may manually link each zoneplayer or room one after the other. For example, there is a multi-zonesystem that includes the following zones:

Bathroom

Bedroom

Den

Dining Room

Family Room

Foyer

If a user wishes to link five of the six zone players using the currentmechanism, the user may start with a single zone and then manually linkeach zone to that zone. This mechanism may be sometimes quite timeconsuming. According to one embodiment, a set of zones can bedynamically linked together using one command. Using what is referred toherein as a theme or a zone scene, zones can be configured in aparticular scene (e.g., morning, afternoon, or garden), where apredefined zone grouping and setting of attributes for the grouping areautomatically effectuated.

For instance, a “Morning” zone scene/configuration command would linkthe Bedroom, Den and Dining Room together in one action. Without thissingle command, the user would need to manually and individually linkeach zone. FIG. 3A provides an illustration of one zone scene, where theleft column shows the starting zone grouping—all zones are separate, thecolumn on the right shows the effects of grouping the zones to make agroup of 3 zones named after “Morning”.

Expanding this idea further, a Zone Scene can be set to create multiplesets of linked zones. For example, a scene creates 3 separate groups ofzones, the downstairs zones would be linked together, the upstairs zoneswould be linked together in their own group, and the outside zones (inthis case the patio) would move into a group of its own.

In one embodiment as shown in FIG. 3B, a user defines multiple groups tobe gathered at the same time. For example: an “Evening Scene” is desiredto link the following zones:

-   -   Group 1    -   Bedroom    -   Den    -   Dining Room    -   Group 2    -   Garage    -   Garden        where Bathroom, Family Room and Foyer should be separated from        any group if they were part of a group before the Zone Scene was        invoked.

A feature of certain embodiments is that that zones do not need to beseparated before a zone scene is invoked. In one embodiment, a commandis provided and links all zones in one step, if invoked. The command isin a form of a zone scene. After linking the appropriate zones, a zonescene command could apply the following attributes:

-   -   Set volumes levels in each zones (each zone can have a different        volume) Mute/Unmute zones.    -   Select and play specific music in the zones.    -   Set the play mode of the music (Shuffle, Repeat, Shuffle-repeat)    -   Set the music playback equalization of each zone (e.g., bass        treble).

A further extension of this embodiment is to trigger a zone scenecommand as an alarm clock function. For instance the zone scene is setto apply at 8:00 am. It could link appropriate zones automatically, setspecific music to play and then stop the music after a defined duration.Although a single zone may be assigned to an alarm, a scene set as analarm clock provides a synchronized alarm, allowing any zones linked inthe scene to play a predefined audio (e.g., a favorable song, apredefined playlist) at a specific time or for a specific duration. If,for any reason, the scheduled music failed to be played (e.g., an emptyplaylist, no connection to a share, failed UPnP, no Internet connectionfor an Internet Radio station), a backup buzzer will sound. This buzzerwill be a sound file that is stored in a zone player.

FIG. 4 shows an exemplary user interface 400 that may be displayed on acontroller 142 or a computer 110 of FIG. 1. The interface 400 shows alist of items that may be set up by a user to cause a scene to functionat a specific time. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the list of itemsincludes “Alarm”, “Time”, “Zone”, “Music”, “Frequency” and “Alarmlength”. “Alarm” can be set on or off. When “Alarm” is set on, “Time” isa specific time to set off the alarm. “Zone” shows which zone playersare being set to play a specified audio at the specific time. “Music”shows what to be played when the specific time arrives. “Frequency”allows the user to define a frequency of the alarm. “Alarm length”defines how long the audio is to be played. It should be noted that theuser interface 400 is provided herein to show some of the functionsassociated with setting up an alarm. Depending on an exactimplementation, other functions, such as time zone, daylight savings,time synchronization, and time/date format for display may also beprovided.

According to one embodiment, each zone player in a scene may be set upfor different alarms. For example, a “Morning” scene includes three zoneplayers, each in a bedroom, a den, and a dining room. After selectingthe scene, the user may set up an alarm for the scene as whole. As aresult, each of the zone players will be activated at a specific time.

FIG. 5A shows a user interface 500 to allow a user to form a scene. Thepanel on the left shows the available zones in a household. The panel onthe right shows the zones that have been selected and be grouped as partof this scene. Depending on an exact implementation of a user interface,Add/Remove buttons may be provided to move zones between the panels, orzones may be dragged along between panels.

FIG. 5B shows another user interface 520 to allow a user to form ascene. The user interface 520 that may be displayed on a controller or acomputing device, lists available zones in a system. A checkbox isprovided next to each of the zones so that a user may check in the zonesto be associated with the scene.

FIG. 5C shows a user interface 510 to allow a user to adjust a volumelevel of the zone players in a zone scene individually or collectively.As shown in the user interface 510, the ‘Volumes . . . ’ button (shownas sliders, other forms are possible) allows the user to affect thevolumes of the associated zone players when a zone scene is invoked. Inone embodiment, the zone players can be set to retain whatever volumethat they currently have when the scene is invoked. Additionally theuser can decide if the volumes should be unmuted or muted when the sceneis invoked.

V. Providing Example Player Themes or Zone Scenes

FIG. 6 shows a flowchart or process 600 of providing a player theme or azone scene for a plurality of players, where one or more of the playersare placed in a zone. The process 600 is presented in accordance withone embodiment of the present invention and may be implemented in amodule to be located in the memory 282 of FIG. 2C.

The process 600 is initiated when a user decides to proceed with a zonescene at 602. The process 600 then moves to 604 where it allows a userto decide which zone players to be associated with the scene. Forexample, there are ten players in a household, and the scene is namedafter “Morning”. The user may be given an interface to select four ofthe ten players to be associated with the scene. At 606, the scene issaved. The scene may be saved in any one of the members in the scene. Inthe example of FIG. 1, the scene is saved in one of the zone players anddisplayed on the controller 142. In operation, a set of data pertainingto the scene includes a plurality of parameters. In one embodiment, theparameters include, but may not be limited to, identifiers (e.g., IPaddress) of the associated players and a playlist. The parameters mayalso include volume/tone settings for the associated players in thescene. The user may go back to 602 to configure another scene ifdesired.

Given a saved scene, a user may activate the scene at any time or set upa timer to activate the scene at 610. The process 600 can continue whena saved scene is activated at 610. At 612, upon the activation of asaved scene, the process 600 checks the status of the players associatedwith the scene. The status of the players means that each of the playersshall be in condition to react in a synchronized manner. In oneembodiment, the interconnections of the players are checked to make surethat the players communicate among themselves and/or with a controllerif there is such a controller in the scene.

It is assumed that all players associated with the scene are in goodcondition. At 614, commands are executed with the parameters (e.g.,pertaining to a playlist and volumes). In one embodiment, data includingthe parameters is transported from a member (e.g., a controller) toother members in the scene so that the players are caused to synchronizean operation configured in the scene. The operation may cause allplayers to play back a song in identical or different volumes or to playback a pre-stored file.

VI. Example Multi-channel Environments

FIG. 7 shows an example configuration in which an audio source is playedback on two players 702 and 704, according to an example embodiment.These two players 702 and 704 may be located in and around one place(e.g., a hall, room, or nearby rooms) and are designated to play twosound tracks respectively. For example, an audio source may have leftand right sound channels or tracks (e.g., stereo sound). Instead ofgrouping the players 702 and 704 to play back the audio source togetherin synchrony, where each player 702 and 704 plays the same audio contentat substantially the same time, the players 702 and 704 can be paired toplay different channels of the audio source in synchrony. As a result ofpairing, the stereo sound effects can be simulated or enhanced via twoplayers 702 and 704 versus one player or none of the players, forexample.

In certain embodiments, each player of players 702 and 704 includes anetwork interface, one or more speaker drivers (two or more speakerdrivers in some instances, such as when the player can play in stereomode absent pairing), an amplifier, and a processor, such as shown inFIG. 2A. The network interface receives audio data over a network. Oneor more amplifiers power the speaker drivers. The processor processesthe audio data to be output through the speaker drivers. The processormay further configure a first equalization of the output from thespeaker drivers in accordance with a first type of pairing andconfiguring a second equalization of the output from the speaker driversin accordance with a second type of pairing.

In an embodiment, the two players 702 and 704 are configured to output aplurality of audio channels independent of each other. For example, eachplayer 702 and 704 may be configured to output audio content in stereoindependently from each other. Subsequent to pairing, one playbackdevice (e.g., player 702) is configured to output a first subset of theplurality of audio channels and the other playback device (e.g., player704) is configured to output a second subset of the plurality of audiochannels. The first and second subsets are different. In this example,subsequent to pairing players 702 and 704, player 702 might play theright channel and player 704 might play the left channel. In anotherexample, player 702 might play the right channel plus a center channel(e.g., in television or theater mode) and player 704 might play the leftchannel plus the center channel. Even in the latter example, the firstand second subsets are different in that player 702 is playing channelsRight+Center and player 704 is playing channels Left+Center. In yetanother embodiment, subsequent to pairing, player 702 might play allchannels except certain bass frequencies, which may be played via player704, thereby using player 704 as a subwoofer.

In another embodiment, a collection of three or more playback devices(e.g., players 702, 704, and one or more additional players) are eachconfigured to output a plurality of audio channels independent ofanother playback device in the collection. Subsequent to pairing, eachof the playback devices is configured to output a generally differentaudio channel(s) from the collection. This embodiment is particularlyuseful in a television or movie theater setting where a particularplayback device of the multiple playback devices is configured to outputin two-channel or stereo mode at one time (e.g., when playing a song),and subsequent to pairing, is configured to output as a front-rightchannel, a front-center channel, a front-left channel, a rear-rightchannel, a rear-left channel, and so on (e.g., when watching a movie ortelevision).

In another embodiment, one of the paired playback devices (e.g., player702 or player 704) processes the data of the audio item, essentiallyseparating the data into channels, each of the channels representing asingle-sound track, for example, and being played back in one of theplayback devices, thus creating or enhancing a multi-channel listeningenvironment. In an alternative embodiment, both playback devices (e.g.,players 702 and 704) may receive and process the data of the audio itemand each playback device may output only the audio content designatedfor the respective player. For example, player 702 might receive bothleft and right channel audio, but only play the left channel, whereasplayer 704 might also receive both left and right channel audio, butonly play the right channel.

In another embodiment, two or more playback devices (e.g., players 702or 704) may be grouped into a single or consolidated playback device andthe consolidated playback device (e.g., consolidated player 702+704) maybe paired with one or more playback devices. For instance, two playbackdevices may be grouped into a first consolidated playback device and twoadditional playback devices may be grouped into a second consolidatedplayback device. Then, the first and second consolidated playbackdevices may be paired to create or enhance a multi-channel listeningenvironment.

In certain embodiments, a playback device (e.g., either player 702 or704) that is configured to output an audio channel is paired with one ormore additional playback devices, such that the playback device isconfigured to output a different audio channel than previouslyconfigured. For instance, the playback device might be configured tooutput a right channel in stereo mode, but subsequent to being pairedwith one or more additional playback devices, might be configured tooutput a rear, right channel in theater mode. The playback device may bepaired to one or more other playback devices.

In certain embodiments, a playback device (e.g., either player 702 or704) that is configured to output a plurality of audio channels ispaired with one or more additional playback devices, such that theplayback device is configured to output a subset of the plurality ofaudio channels relative to the one or more additional playback devices.For instance, the playback device might be configured to output intwo-channel or stereo mode, but subsequent to being paired with one ormore playback devices might be configured to output a right or leftchannel. The playback device may be paired to one or more other playbackdevices.

According to certain embodiments, the action of pairing two or moreplayback devices is triggered based on a command from a user via acontrol interface (e.g., a manual command) or responsive to an event(e.g., an automatic command). For example, using a controller, a usercan create a pairing between two or more playback devices or disengagethe pairing between two or more playback devices. In another example,pairing may be triggered by the audio content itself, a signal receivedfrom a source device, or some other predefined event, such that pairingoccurs when the event is detected by the controller or playback device,for example. In addition, another device might be programmed to detectthe event and provide a pairing signal to the controller and/or playbackdevices.

Further, it is understood that going from a configuration of no pairing(unpaired or non paired) to a configuration of pairing or from one kindof pairing (e.g., a pairing used in a type of stereo mode or theatermode) to a different kind of pairing (e.g., another pairing used in atype of stereo mode or theater mode) are all various types of “pairing”that can occur according to certain embodiments. In addition,disengaging a pairing between multiple playback devices might go frompairing to no pairing or from pairing of a first kind back to pairing ofa previous kind, for example.

In one example, a first type of pairing might include “no pairing” withanother playback device and a second type of pairing might includepairing with one or more additional playback devices. In a secondexample, a first type of pairing might include pairing with a secondplayback device and a second type of pairing might include pairing witha plurality of playback devices. In a third example, a first type ofpairing might include reproducing two channel sound via the speakerdrivers and a second type of pairing comprises reproducing no more thanone channel of the two channel sound via the speaker drivers. In afourth example, a first type of pairing might comprise reproducing afirst audio channel via the speaker drivers and the second type ofpairing might include reproducing a second audio channel via the speakerdrivers. In a fifth example, a first type of pairing might includereproducing the audio content via the speaker drivers in stereo mode anda second type of pairing might include reproducing the audio content viathe speaker drivers in theater mode. In a sixth example, a first type ofpairing might include reproducing the audio content via the speakerdrivers and a second type of pairing comprises reproducing the audiocontent via the speaker drivers when in consolidated mode. It isunderstood that various variations and modifications may be made to theexamples described just above with the attainment of some or all of theadvantages of the technology described herein.

According to certain embodiments, the configuration of a playback devicemay include any of: changing the equalization of the playback device bychanging the equalization of one or more specific speaker drivers andoptimizing the synchronization between paired devices. Changing theequalization of the playback device might include any of: turning on oroff (or effectively muting) one or more specific speaker drivers,changing the channel output of one or more speaker drivers, changing thefrequency response of one or more specific speaker drivers, changing theamplifier gain of any particular speaker driver, changing the amplifiergain of the playback device as a whole.

In certain embodiments, changing the equalization of a playback device(e.g., changing the equalization of one or more speaker drivers of theplayback device) may affect frequency dependent parameters. Examplesmight include the adjustment of the strength of frequencies within theaudio data, a phase adjustment, and time-delay adjustment. In addition,a particular equalization may use a first type of pass filter, such asone that attenuates high, middle, or low frequencies, for example, whileallowing other frequencies to pass unfiltered (or substantiallyunfiltered). Filters might also be different kinds or of a differentorder (e.g., first order filter, second order filter, third orderfilter, fourth order filter, and so on). For example, a firstequalization of a playback device might include using a first type ofpass filter to modify the output based on a first type of pairing and asecond equalization of the playback device might include using a secondtype of pass filter to modify the output based on the second type ofpairing. In this example, the first and second type of pass filters haveone or different properties and/or behaviors, thus changing theequalization and sonic behavior of the device.

By way of illustration, when two S5 devices are paired to create astereo pair, for example, one S5 device may be configured as the “left”and the other S5 device may be configured as the “right.” In oneembodiment, the user may determine which is left or right. In thisconfiguration, for example, the left and right audio data may be sent toboth S5 devices, but the left audio data of the track is played out ofthe S5 device configured as left and the right audio data of a track isplayed out of the S5 device configured as right. In addition, theequalization of each S5 device is changed in an attempt to reduce oreliminate certain constructive or destructive interference. For example,one tweeter on each S5 device may be turned off or substantially muted.In certain embodiments, the crossover frequency to each driver may evenbe changed from a previous configuration so that two or more drivers arenot necessarily outputting the exact same audio data, otherwiseconstructive and/or destructive interference may occur. In certainembodiments, the amplifier gain is adjusted for a particular speakerdriver and/or for the playback device as a whole.

In operation, according to certain embodiments, a controller 706 (e.g.,a controller 142 of FIG. 1 or 240 of FIG. 2B or a portable device) isused to initiate the operation. Through a user interface, the controller706 causes a player 702 to retrieve the audio source, provided the audiosource is on a network 708 (e.g., the Internet or a local area network).Similarly, the controller 706 may also cause a designated device (e.g.,another networked device) to establish a communication session with theplayer 702 to deliver the requested audio source. In any case, eitherone or both of the players 702 and 704 may have access to the datarepresenting the audio source.

In certain embodiments, a module in the player 702 is activated toprocess the data. According to one embodiment, the right and left soundtracks are separated. One sound track is retained locally in one playerand the other sound track is pushed or uploaded to the other device(e.g., via an ad-hoc network). When the right and left sound tracks areplayed back simultaneously or substantially simultaneously, the stereosound effect can be appreciated.

In another embodiment, several tracks are separated, such as intelevision or theater mode. For example, the tracks may be separatedinto a center channel, right front channel, left front channel, rightrear channel, left rear channel, and so on. Accordingly, one or moresound tracks may be retained locally in one player and the other soundtracks are pushed or uploaded to the other devices.

In yet another embodiment, one player might process the data and retainone or more tracks locally, while the remaining data is sent ontoanother player. The receiving player may then process the data andretain one or more tracks locally and send any remaining data ontoanother player. This process, or one like it, may continue until all ofthe tracks are retained locally by corresponding player devices.

In yet another embodiment, each player might receive and process thedata and play only the channel or channels that are designated for thatplayer.

In certain embodiments, it is important to maintain goodsynchronization, especially when pairing two or more independentlyclocked playback devices so that the multi-channel audio content isplayed back as it was originally intended. According to an embodiment, amessage may be initiated from one device to another that is alsoactivated to send back an acknowledgement. Upon receiving theacknowledgement, the time delay in transporting data from one device toanother can be measured. The time delay will be considered whensynchronizing the two players to play back the two separated soundtracks. In certain embodiments, if sending a packet (e.g., a packet inaccordance with SNTP protocol) to a playback device and receiving aresponse takes more than fifteen milliseconds, for example, the timinginformation contained within that packet, such as clock information, isdiscarded. If sending and receiving a packet is less than fifteenmilliseconds, then the information from the packet is used to adjustplayback, if so necessary.

Additional details of synchronizing operations of two or moreindependently clocked players are provided in commonly assigned USapplication Ser. No. 10/816,217, filed Apr. 1, 2004, entitled “Systemand Method For Synchronizing Operations Among A Plurality OfIndependently Clocked Digital Data Processing Devices” which is herebyincorporated by reference.

FIG. 8 shows an example configuration of a pairing amongst multipleplayers 802, 804, 806, 808, 810, and 812 in a theater-like environment,in accordance to an embodiment. Player 802 may operate as a front-leftchannel, player 804 may operate as a center channel, player 806 mayoperate as a front-right channel, player 808 may operate as a subwoofer,player 810 may operate as a rear, right channel, and player 812 mayoperate as a rear, right channel. In this example, the players 802, 804,806, 808, 810, and 812 are wirelessly coupled over network 815 so as toreceive and transmit data over a wireless network, and obtain power frompower outlets in the wall or through some other power source (e.g., abattery). Players 802, 804, 806, 808, 810, and 812 may be wired, if soconfigured in an alternate embodiment. Controller 814 may be anetwork-enabled device, examples of which include a smart phone, tabletcomputer, laptop computer, desktop computer, or a television.

In one embodiment, a designated player, such as player 804, receivesmulti-channel audio content from a source 816. Source 816 might includeaudio and/or video content downloaded or streamed from the Internet, aDVD or Blu-Ray player, or from some other source of audio and/or videocontent. Player 804 separates the multi-channel audio and sendsrespective audio channels to its playback owner. For example, if aparticular audio channel is designated for the front, right speaker,then that content is wirelessly directed from player 804 to player 802,and so on. Players 802, 804, 806, 808, 810, and 812 play the audiocontent synchronously, so as to create a multi-channel listeningenvironment. Moreover, if source 816 provides video content along withaudio content, then the audio content is preferably played in synchronywith the video content.

In another embodiment, each player of players 802, 804, 806, 808, 810,and 812 may separate out its own one or more channels for playback. Thatis, either all audio content, or a portion thereof, is sent to eachplayer (e.g., from source 816 or another playback device) and the playeritself obtains its own data for playback.

In addition, players 802, 804, 806, 808, 810, and 812 may bereconfigured to operate in many different configurations, such asdescribed above. For example, players 802 and 806 may be paired tooperate in stereo mode, while the other players remain in sleep mode orturned off (player 808 may remain on in any particular configuration, ifso desired and configured, because it is operating as a subwoofer). Inanother example, players 802 and 810 may be consolidated and output leftchannel audio, while players 806 and 812 may be consolidated and outputright channel audio. In yet another example, some of players 802, 804,806, 808, 810, and 812 are consolidated into a single player and pairedwith additional playback devices, such as in an adjacent room. In afurther example, players 802, 804, 806, 808, 810, and 812 are groupedand not paired, when the audio content is music (versus movie content,for example). These are just some configuration examples. Many otherconfigurations are possible using the teachings described herein.

FIG. 9 shows a flowchart or process 900 of grouping a plurality of audioproducts to play separated sound tracks in synchronization to simulate amulti-channel listening environment. The process 900 is presented inaccordance with certain embodiments and may be implemented in a moduleto be located in the memory 282 of FIG. 2D. To facilitate thedescription of process 900, a listening environment of stereo sound withleft and right channels is described. Those skilled in the art canappreciate that the description can be equally applied to other forms ofmulti-channel listening environment (e.g., three, five, seven channelenvironments).

Typically, there is a plurality of players being controlled by one ormore controllers, where these players are disposed in various locations.For example, there are five players in a house; three of them arerespectively disposed in three rooms while two players are disposed in alarger room. Accordingly, these two players would be candidates to bepaired to simulate a stereo listening environment, instead of justplaying synchronized audio from both in a grouped fashion. In anotherexample, there are four players in a large space or adjacent spaces, twopairs of the players may be paired to simulate a stereo listeningenvironment, in which two players in one consolidated pair can begrouped to play back one (left) sound track and the other two in theother consolidated pair can be grouped to play back one (right) soundtrack.

In any case, two groups of players or two players are decided to bepaired at 902. If no players are paired, the process 900 will not beactivated. It is assumed that two players from a group of players beingcontrolled by a controller are selected to be paired at 902. The process900 proceeds.

At 904, a user may decide which player is to play back which soundtrack. Depending on the location of the user or listener(s) with respectto the selected players, it is assumed that a player or unit A is chosento play back a left sound track and another player or unit B is chosento play back a right sound track. In an alternative embodiment, theplayers themselves (or the controller) may automatically determine whichunit is configured to play the right channel and which unit isconfigured to play the left channel without input from the user.

According to one embodiment, a time delay in transporting data betweenthe two units A and B is measured at 906. This time delay may facilitatesound synchronization between the two units as one of the units willreceive a processed sound track from the other. The user may continue tooperate on a controller to select a title (e.g., an audio source or anitem from a playlist) for playback on the two units at 910.

Once the title is determined at 912, the data for the title is accessed.Depending on where the data is located, the controller may be configuredto cause one of the two units to obtain or stream in the data. In oneembodiment, the controller or unit A initiates a request to aremotely-networked device providing or storing the data. Assuming anauthentication procedure, if any, completes successfully, the remotedevice starts to upload the data to the unit A. Likewise, if the data islocally stored in the unit A, the data can be accessed locally withoutrequesting the same from the network. As the data is being received oraccessed in the unit A, a processing module is activated in the unit Ato process the data, essentially separating the data into two streams ofsound tracks at 914. In an alternative embodiment, each unit may receiveand process the data, essentially separating the data into a stream tobe played by the respective unit.

At 916, one of the streams is uploaded from the unit A to unit B via alocal network (e.g., the ad-hoc network formed by all the players beingcontrolled by the controller). As the streams are being distributed, thetwo units are configured to play back the streams respectively, eachreproducing the sound of a single sound track at 918. Together, insynchrony, the two units create a stereo sound listening environment.

It should be noted that the delay time, if noticeable, may beincorporated into the unit A to delay the consumption of the stream bythe delay time to synchronize with the unit B. Alternatively, anon-selected player may be used to process a streaming data of the titleand configured to supply two streams to the pair of players, thusequalizing the delay time that would be otherwise experienced by theunit B.

FIGS. 10A-10F show illustrative screenshots of a controller for creatinga stereo pair in accordance with certain embodiments. The screenshotsare from a computing device (e.g., a tablet computer, laptop, ordesktop) used as a controller. Those skilled in the art can appreciatethat FIGS. 10A-10F may be readily modified to be used in a portabledevice with network capability, such as, for example, iPhone or iTouchor other smart phone or other network-enabled devices. Additionally, thecontroller might exist as part of a player itself or directly/indirectlycoupled to the player, and therefore such screenshots may be modifiedaccordingly—such a controller need not have network capability as theplayer will have network connectivity.

FIG. 10A shows a graphic interface 1000 that may be displayed on acontroller when a user desires to create a stereo pair with two playersin a system. It is understood that the system may include two or moreplayers. If a stereo pair is desired, such as discussed with respect tothe example of FIGS. 10A-10F, then any two players (one or both of whichmay be a consolidated player) in the system may be paired. However, ifpairing more than two players is desired, such as creating anenvironment which is capable of playing more than two channel audiodata, then the graphic interface 1000 may include an additional optionor options. For example, an option might include “Make a Movie SurroundSound Pairing,” “Make a Music Surround Sound Pairing,” or “Make a DolbyPro Logic Pairing.” Any descriptive language may be used toappropriately indicate to the user the type of pairing that can becreated. Upon selecting an option, a setup wizard on the controller mayhelp the user appropriately configure the system such that multi-channeldiscrete audio may be effectively realized by the system.

Turning back to FIG. 10A, the interface 1000 allows a user to initiate astereo pair with a zone player named “ZPS5-Black.” In certainembodiments, the system recognizes that ZPS5-Black is part of aparticular zone (e.g., kitchen, family room, bedroom, and so on). Thesystem may allow the user to pair ZPS5-Black with another player in thesame zone only, or alternatively, the system may allow the user to pairZPS5-Black with another player in a different zone (such as an adjacentzone). Pairing players in different zones may be particularly usefulwhen an open space is divided into two or more zones (e.g., an openspace might include a kitchen and family room, for example).

Additionally, the system may be programmed such that pairing playersfrom different zones creates another zone to reflect the players inpaired mode (e.g., a single kitchen-family room zone during pairedoperation might originate from a kitchen zone and a family room zoneduring non-paired operation). In such an embodiment, a user may be ableto switch between zones or dynamically create new zones.

In certain embodiments, if another similar player is available to bepaired, then the screenshot of FIG. 10B may be displayed. If the userwishes to continue with creating a pair, then the user may select “OK.”If not, then the user may select “Cancel.” In another embodiment, adifferent player (e.g., a player that is not an S5) may be pairedtogether. That is, different types of players may be paired, if theplayers are so designed to be paired. To accommodate the differences inplayer type, the equalization of one or more players may be adjustedaccordingly to compensate for things like the number and size of speakerdrivers used in one player versus the other player. In yet anotherembodiment, a list of the players in the system may be displayed (notshown), from which the user selects two or more players to make thestereo pair. The list of players may be automatically determined by thesystem based on a player's particular location within a home, room, orconfiguration with other players within a room, for example.

Turning now to FIG. 10C, in this example, it is assumed that the usermay select a zone player named “ZPS5-White” to be paired with“ZPS5-Black” to create a stereo pair. If so desired, the user may select“OK” to proceed with the pairing. Otherwise, the user may select“Cancel.” In certain embodiments, ZPS5-White may be in the same zone asZPS5-Black. In other embodiments, ZPS5-White may be in a different zoneas ZPS5-Black.

Upon selecting “OK” in FIG. 10C, a screenshot like that of FIG. 10D maybe displayed to the user, thereby instructing the user to press the mutebutton (or some other designated button) on the “LEFT” player of thestereo pair. Further, a light on the players may flash to furtherindicate that each of the players is a possibility for left channelpairing. Upon selection of the left player, FIG. 10E may be displayed toinform the user that a pair has been created along with a name for thepair, if so desired. Responsively, the system will play the left channelaudio from the user designated player and will automatically play theright channel audio from the other player. FIG. 10F provides an examplescreenshot to allow the user to separate the stereo pair if so desired.

In an alternative embodiment, the creation of a stereo pair may be anoption for a particular zone or a number of zones (e.g., a household ofzones). For example, an option like “Create a Stereo Pair” may existsuch that upon selection, a setup wizard may launch asking the user topress a flashing mute button (or some other designated button) onwhichever speaker the user wanted to be the left speaker in the zone, aportion of zones, or all of the zones. In one embodiment, flashing wouldoccur for all of the same speaker types. In another embodiment, flashingwould occur for all speaker types that are capable of being paired.After choosing the left speaker, the wizard screen would ask the user todo the same for the right speaker. Preferably, only the speakers thatare capable of being paired as the right speaker are flashing so as toappropriately narrow the choices for the user.

Additionally, in one embodiment and as shown in FIG. 3A or 3B, a graphicdisplay is provided to show to the user all the players in a system andhow they are grouped or named. A nickname for the stereo pair in thedisplay 1040 may be highlighted and would be further displayed in FIG.3A if FIG. 3A is modified after the stereo pair is complete

A similar graphic interface may be used to create a pair in anenvironment having more than two channels. For example, in a hometheater environment, the system may list more than two separate playersfrom which the user can create a pairing by selecting which player is tooperate as the front right, center, front left, rear right, and rearleft. A subwoofer may also be added to the list, so that it can beintegrated into the multi-channel pairing by the user.

As an example, similar to what is described in the various embodimentsabove with respect to creating a stereo pair, the system may flash anindicator light on all relevant players and a setup wizard may ask theuser to select the “front-left,” then the “front-right,” then the“front-center,” then the “rear-left,” then the “rear-right,” and so onuntil all of the players are appropriately paired. Preferably, only thespeakers that are capable of being paired as the next speaker areflashing so as to appropriately narrow the choices for the user.

VII. Conclusion

The components, elements, and/or functionality of the systems discussedabove may be implemented alone or in combination in various forms inhardware, firmware, and/or as a set of instructions in software, forexample. Certain embodiments may be provided as a set of instructionsresiding on a computer-readable medium, such as a memory, hard disk,CD-ROM, DVD, and/or EPROM, for execution on a processing device, such asa controller and/or playback device.

Various inventions have been described in sufficient detail with acertain degree of particularity. It is understood to those skilled inthe art that the present disclosure of embodiments has been made by wayof examples only and that numerous changes in the arrangement andcombination of parts may be resorted without departing from the spiritand scope of the invention as claimed. While the embodiments discussedherein may appear to include some limitations as to the presentation ofthe information units, in terms of the format and arrangement, theembodiments have applicability well beyond such embodiment, which can beappreciated by those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the scope of thepresent invention is defined by the appended claims rather than theforgoing description of embodiments.

We claim:
 1. An apparatus for providing audio in a multi-channel listening environment, the apparatus comprising: a network interface to facilitate communication on a network, wherein the network interface receives audio data over the network; a plurality of speaker drivers; an amplifier for powering the plurality of speaker drivers; and a processor for processing the audio data to be output through the plurality of speaker drivers and further for configuring a first equalization of the output from the plurality of speaker drivers in accordance with a first type of pairing and configuring a second equalization of the output from the plurality of speaker drivers in accordance with a second type of pairing.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first equalization comprises using a first type of pass filter to modify the output based on the first type of pairing, wherein the second equalization comprises using a second type of pass filter to modify the output based on the second type of pairing, and wherein the first type of pass filter and the second type of pass filter are different.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus comprises a playback device, and wherein the first type of pairing comprises no pairing with another playback device and the second type of pairing comprises pairing with one or more additional playback devices.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus comprises a playback device, and wherein the first type of pairing comprises pairing with a second playback device and the second type of pairing comprises pairing with a plurality of playback devices.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first type of pairing comprises reproducing two channel sound via the plurality of speaker drivers and wherein the second type of pairing comprises reproducing no more than one channel of the two channel sound via the plurality of speaker drivers.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first type of pairing comprises reproducing a first audio channel via the plurality of speaker drivers and wherein the second type of pairing comprises reproducing a second audio channel via the plurality of speaker drivers, and wherein the first audio channel and the second audio channel are different.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first type of pairing comprises reproducing the audio content via the plurality of speaker drivers in stereo mode and wherein the second type of pairing comprises reproducing the audio content via the plurality of speaker drivers in theater mode.
 8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first type of pairing comprises reproducing the audio content via the plurality of speaker drivers and wherein the second type of pairing comprises reproducing the audio content via the plurality of speaker drivers when in consolidated mode.
 9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to separate the audio data into separate audio channels, wherein at least one separate audio channel is output from the plurality of speaker drivers and at least one additional separate audio channel is transmitted by the network interface over the network.
 10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is a playback device and the network interface receives a signal from a controller over the network to pair with one or more playback devices.
 11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is a playback device and the network interface receives a signal from a controller over the network to configure the playback device in consolidation mode.
 12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is a playback device and further comprises a button that when selected chooses the channel of the playback device.
 13. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the network is a wireless network.
 14. A method for providing audio in a multi-channel listening environment, the method comprising: receiving audio data over a network; processing the audio data to be output through a plurality of speaker drivers; and configuring a first equalization of the output from the plurality of speaker drivers in accordance with a first type of pairing and configuring a second equalization of the output from the plurality of speaker drivers in accordance with a second type of pairing.
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein the first equalization comprises using a first type of pass filter to modify the content based on the first type of pairing and wherein the second equalization comprises using a second type of pass filter to modify the output based on the second type of pairing, wherein the first type of pass filter and the second type of pass filter are different.
 16. The method of claim 14, wherein the first type of pairing comprises no pairing with another playback device and the second type of pairing comprises pairing with one or more additional playback devices.
 17. The method of claim 14, wherein the first type of pairing comprises pairing with a second playback device and the second type of pairing comprises pairing with a plurality of playback devices.
 18. The method of claim 14, wherein the first type of pairing comprises reproducing two channel sound via the plurality of speaker drivers and wherein the second type of pairing comprises reproducing no more than one channel of the two channel sound via the plurality of speaker drivers.
 19. The method of claim 14, wherein the first type of pairing comprises reproducing a first audio channel via the plurality of speaker drivers and wherein the second type of pairing comprises reproducing a second audio channel via the plurality of speaker drivers, and wherein the first audio channel and the second audio channel are different.
 20. The method of claim 14, wherein the first type of pairing comprises reproducing the audio content via the plurality of speaker drivers and wherein the second type of pairing comprises reproducing the audio content via the plurality of speaker drivers when in consolidated mode.
 21. The method of claim 14, wherein the processor is further configured to separate the audio data into separate audio channels, wherein at least one separate audio channel is output from the plurality of speaker drivers and at least one additional separate audio channel is transmitted by the network interface over the network.
 22. The method of claim 14, further comprising sending a signal over the network to a controller that selects a channel of the audio data that is output from the plurality of speaker drivers. 